National Current Affairs 28.6.09

June 18, 2009 Committee to review Coastal Security
June 19, 2009: Navy seals 45,000-cr deal: seven warships
June 20, 2009 : Sarod maestro Ali Akbar Khan passes away
June 20, 2009: 797th Urs of Khawaja Moinuddin Chisty begins in Ajmer
June 20, 2009 Andhra Pradesh ‘e-parishakaram for speedy redressal of grievances
June 21, 2009 : A committee headed by by K.V.L. Rao to suggest powerful engine for Jaguar
June 22, 2009 Govt’s approves Armed Forces Tribunal members’ appointment
June 22, 2009 Ashok Gehlot wants special status for Rajasthan
June 22, 2009 : Indian Bans CPI (maoist)
June 23, 2009 : Punjab Finalises 31 Biomass projects
June 25, 2009 Class 10 board exams to be optional
June 26, 2009 : 3rd East Asia Gender Equality Ministerial, Seoul

June 18, 2009 Committee to review Coastal Security
The Government has decided to set up a high-level committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary to regularly review the measures taken for coastal security. The decision to set up the committee was taken at a meeting chaired by the Defence Minister, Mr A. K. Antony on June 18, 2009.

Issues Discussed:
1. Fixing transponders on certain categories of vessels, having a network of radars and other sensors along the coast for providing fool-proof surveillance.
2. By the end of next year 38 stations will get the cover of fool-proof surveillance in the first phase of the project, while rest of the stations will be covered in the second phase.
3. Navy and Coast Guards to optimally use their assets and forces to enhance coastal surveillance.

June 19, 2009: Navy seals 45,000-cr deal: seven warships
India has cleared its largest ever indigenous defence contract worth Rs 45,000 crore to manufacture seven advanced stealth frigates for the Navy at shipyards in Kolkata and Mumbai. The P17A warship project, which will be India’s most advanced and stealthy frigates, has been cleared by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC). DAC has decided that all seven warships will be manufactured in India by the Mazagon Dock Limited, Mumbai (MDL) and the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata. The Defence Ministry has allocated a budget of Rs 45,000 crore for the project and the work will be divided between the two shipyards. The P17A frigates will be even more advanced than the P17 Shivalik class warships that are currently being inducted by the Navy.

June 20, 2009 : Sarod maestro Ali Akbar Khan passes away
Sarod maestro Ustad Ali Akbar Khan passed away in San Francisco in USA. He was 88. He was born on April 14, 1922 in Shibpur village of Comilla district, now in Bangladesh.
Some Facts About Ali Akbar Khan:
He was a recepient of Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan (1989)
Ustad Ali Akbar Khan has been designated a ‘Living National Treasure’ in India.
He received the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 1991
He was nominated for Grammy Awards five times between 1970 to 1998.

June 20, 2009 797th Urs of Khawaja Moinuddin Chisty begins in Ajmer
Ajmer’s famous annual Urs festival, dedicated to Sufi saint Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Hasan Chisty started on June 20, 2009. This is an annual ceremony which commences with the hoisting of the historical flag and a 21-gun salute at the Sufi saint’s mausoleum. Flag is hoisted, on the Buland Darwaza (it is not the Buland Darwaja of Fatehpur Sikri, It is Buland Darwaja of the Majar in Ajmer) . The flag comes from Bhilwara and it denotes the faith of the devotees in the Dargah. Urs is observed to mark the death anniversary of the departed saint. Although it is an Islamic tradition, people of all faiths participate with equal reverence.

About Moin-ud-din Chisti
This Sufi saint Moin-ud-din Chisti, popularly known as ‘Garib Nawaz’ (Messiah of the poor), is believed to have born in 1142 AD and died in 1230 AD. Since his ancestors belonged to a town named Chisti, the devotees referred to him by that name.

He is considered a descendent of Muhammad and is also known as Sultan -i Hind, Shaikh & Khalifa. He preached tolerance and unity of all religions, died in Ajmer where his tomb has become a shrine for millions of people from around the world.

It was during the reign of Emperor Akbar (1556-1605) that Ajmer emerged as one of the most important centers of pilgrimage in India. Akbar undertook an unceremonial journey on foot to accomplish his wish to reach Ajmer. The Akbarnamah records that the Emperor’s interest first sparked when he heard some minstrels singing songs about the virtues of the Wali (Friend of God) who lay asleep in Ajmer.

note: A bomb had went off inside the complex on Thursday 11 October 2007 evening killing three people and injuring 17 others

June 20, 2009 ‘e-parishakaram for speedy redressal of grievances
East Godavari District in Andhra Pradesh is launching a new on line system e-parishakaram aimed at speedy redressel of the peoples’ grievances. The first of its kind in the state, works as a single window at district, division and mandal levels for receiving and speedy redressel of grievances.

June 21, 2009 : A committee headed by by K.V.L. Rao to suggest powerful engine for Jaguar
The Indian Air Force has set up a committee to indicate which new engine will be suited to power India’s frontline but overweight and underpowered Jaguar tactical light strike fighter. This committe will be headed by K.V.L. Rao, an aero engine expert and former project director (propulsion systems) with the Aeronautical Development Agency

Task of the committee:

The task is to choose between proposals from Honeywell and Rolls Royce, both of which have replied to the request for proposal that was sent out as part of the Indian Air Force programme for new engines for Jaguar. This programme is related to acquisition of 280 engines, including spare engines for around 120 aircraft.
Honeywell is offering its F125N, a 43.8 kilo Newton (kN) thrust engine,
Rolls Royce, whose Adour Mk811 (32.5 kN) presently powers the IAF’s Jaguars, proposes its Adour Mk821 turbofan.
Of 1970s vintage, the Anglo-French designed Jaguar has been with the IAF since 1979, when the first of the two twin-engine fighter aircraft landed in India. But from the beginning, the IAF, which has over 100 Jaguars — acquired either directly from BAE Systems or built under licence by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited — has persistently complained of a lack of thrust from the aircraft’s Rolls Royce / Turbomeca manufactured Mk804E or Rolls Royce Mk811 engines, especially during critical hot weather and high altitude missions.

June 22, 2009 Govt’s approves Armed Forces Tribunal members’ appointment
The Government has approved the appointment of eight judicial and 15 administrative members in the Armed Forces Tribunal for a period of four years to dispense cost effective and speedy justice to the armed forces personnel.

The appointed members will serve for a period of four years or till the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier and will be in the pay bracket of Rs 26,000 as per the Fifth Pay Commission.
The judicial members of the tribunal include serving Justices Janardan Sahai, Manak Lall Mohta and Bhanwaroo Khan.
About 9,000 cases, currently pending in various High courts across the country, will be transferred to the tribunal.This tribunal will be inaugurated by President Pratibha Patil by this year end.

June 22, 2009 Ashok Gehlot wants special status for Rajasthan
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has emphasized on his demand for special state status to the desert state in view of the peculiar geographical, social and economic circumstances and chronic drinking water crisis. This issue was raised by Chief Minister at Finance Ministers’ meet in New Delhi. He was demanding special status to the state for drinking water.

Mr Gehlot was leading the state officials team at the meeting, Finance Commission team was led by Chairman Dr Vijay Kelkar.

About Drinking Water problem of Rajasthan:

  1. Rajasthan ccupies 10.4 per cent Geographical area of the country, of which more than 60 per cent area was desert and the availability of water was only 1.04 per cent of the total water of the country.
  2. Rajasthan is facing severe drinking water problem as only 32 blocks out of 232 blocks were considered safe.
  3. Rajasthan largely depends upon ground water & water mining in the state was 137 per cent, whereas it was only 47 per cent in Gujarat, 70 per cent in Uttar Pradesh, 45 per cent in Andhra Pradesh, 85 per cent in Tamilnadu and 48 per cent in Maharashtra.
  4. Rajasthan Govt. on June 19, 2009 has launched a “Harit Rajasthan” programme. This is a Chief Ministers flagship scheme envisages planting of over 30 lakh saplings on vacant land in schools, colleges, hospitals and government offices as well as in public parks and along the roadside and highways.

What is watermining ?

In hydrology, water mining is the extraction of water from non-replenishing groundwater or glacial reserves.The more is the figure in percentage , the more that particular place is exhausted of the water reserves.

June 22, 2009 : Indian Bans CPI (maoist)
The Union Government has decided to ban the Communist Party of India (Maoist), calling it as a terrorist organisation under the Unlawful Activity (Prevention) Act 1967. The Maoist organisation is banned by many states including Andhra Pradesh and Chattisgarh and now the centre overrides the West Bengal government’s decision not to ban the CPI-Maoist.

Origin of CPI (Maoist)

It was founded on September 21, 2004, through the merger of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) People’s War and the Maoist Communist Centre of India under the leadership of M Lakshman Rao alias Ganapati.

Why they are called maoist?

They belive that they are conducting ‘people’s war’, a strategical line developed by Mao Zedong during the phase of guerrilla warfare of the Communist Party of China.
They are reffred as Naxalites in reference to the Naxalbari insurrection by radical Maoists in West Bengal in 1967.

They made their presence felt in strategic locations like Dandakaranya, parts of Vindhyas and Western Ghats from West Bengal to Karnataka calling it as a “Red Corridor” There are nearly 20,000-armed guerillas present in this 92,000 sq Kilometre stretch.

In India , CPI (M) is now listed with thirty four other organisations including Lashker-e -Toiba,(LeT) and Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) as the terrorist organisation.

June 23, 2009 : Punjab Finalises 31 Biomass projects:
he Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) has finalised the allocation of 31 biomass based-projects with aggregate capacity of 338 MW to private developers. These biomass-based power projects having capacity ranging from 5 MW to 20 MW each will be set up in 31 tehsils of the State on the basis of competitive bidding in line with the States, new and renewable sources of energy policy.

June 25, 2009: Class 10 board exams to be optional
The Minister of Human Resource Development, Mr Kapil Sibal has said that the Class 10 Board examinations should be made optional along with putting a grading system in place for Standard Nine and 10 in schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education. This is to de-traumatise education.

He also proposed the formation of an autonomous overarching regulatory and assessment authority for higher education which would subsume the University Grants Commission, the All-India Council of Technical Education and the Medical Council of India. This is in line with the recommendations of the Professor Yashpal Committee and the National Knowledge Commission. Also, there will be a review of the functioning of existing ‘deemed universities’.

June 26, 2009 : 3rd East Asia Gender Equality Ministerial, Seoul
Plenary Session of 3rd East Asia Gender Equality Ministerial meeting was held at Seoul. Union Minister for Women and Child Development Krishna Tirath has said that the Indian Government is making efforts to protect women from economic slow down and also enable them to uplift themselves. The Self help group movement is being strengthened further to mobilize more and more women for income generating activities with linkage to micro credit.


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2 Comments

  1. Anonymous

    June 29, 2009 at 3:58 am

    The above GK are very theoretical………..it does not create interest to read due to more content……..

  2. Vaibhav Rikhari

    July 21, 2009 at 2:57 am

    @above …no it actually helps to know all the things surrounding a particular topic ..if u don't want then stick with the headlines …
    But please don't make such generic statements ..

    This is a perfect site !

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